Si Woo Kim chases history with shared third round lead at Memorial
Korean star Si Woo Kim battled his way into a share of the third-round lead alongside two others at the Memorial Tournament in Muirfield on Saturday.
- Jun 4, 2023,
- Updated Jun 4, 2023 12:46 PM IST
A fighting display that saw him shrug off two double bogeys carried Korea’s Si Woo Kim into the joint lead after round three the Memorial Tournament along with world number three Rory McIlroy and David Lipsky on Saturday and giving him a chance to emulate countryman K.J. Choi, 2007 winner of the event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
Kim carded a gutsy 1 under 71 to go with earlier rounds of 71 and 68 to tally 6 under 210 at Muirfield Village Golf Club, sinking six birdies against the two doubles and a further bogey to line up a shot at a second title of the year at the $20 million event, according to the PGA Tour.
The 27-year-old said later, “I feel I hit a lot of great tee shots and a lot of great iron shots and hopefully it goes in with the putter. But I feel great, especially making two doubles and shoot under par on this course, I'll take it.” Kim made birdies on holes 1, 4, 7, 12, 13 and 15 but rued finding the water thrice including dumping his ball in the penalty area twice on the par-5 11th hole. He also made an unfortunate double on the third when a seemingly perfect tee shot ended in a divot which he subsequently pushed his approach into the hazard.
“On 3, I hit a great tee shot with a 3-iron and right down the middle. I was in a divot. So I tried to hit that ball contact first and pushed it a little into water. That makes double. Number 11, I tried to get on in two but the wind was kind of right-to-left and got it and it went into the hazard. Third shot into the hazard. So that makes double,” he said.
Kim will be alongside McIlroy in Sunday’s final round and is ready to give it his all in search of a fifth career win in the US. “Greens are firm. Rough’s long. It’s hard to keep the concentration. Every hole is like make bogey or double. So, if I had to miss, you got to take a bogey,” said Kim, whose four wins include the 2017 Players Championship.
The Korean will be boosted by the fact that he has not missed the cut in eight starts at Muirfield Village, with a best of T9 in 2021. This week, Kim has been rock-steady where he ranks fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green through three rounds.
McIlroy, also chasing a second win of the season, signed for a 70 that included four birdies and two bogeys while Lipsky stayed on course for a maiden win after salvaging a 72. They were one shot ahead of a group of five – Denny McCarthy (68), Viktor Hovland (69), Wyndham Clark (70), Lee Hodges (70) and Mark Hubbard (72).
Japan star Hideki Matsuyama, who was solo second after 36 holes had a 75 which included a triple bogey on the par-3 12th hole and enters the final round in tied ninth place, two shits behind the leaders.
Another Korean, Sungjae Im, put himself in the contention for the $3.6 million winner’s cheque after a fine 67 that pushed him to a share of 14th place, just three back of the co-leaders. Im sank seven birdies against two bogeys as he seeks a third tour win.
McIlroy, a 23-time PGA TOUR winner, was upbeat after saving par from eight feet at the last to be tied for the lead. " I've done a good job this week of keeping the ball in play. What I need to do tomorrow is just stick to that gameplan. Not to try to get ahead of myself, not to get too aggressive.”
While the Northern Irishman won the CJ Cup in South Carolina, Kim was winner at the Sony Open in Hawaii. If either of them triumphs, he would be the fifth player this season to win more than once after Jon Rahm, Tony Finau, Max Homa, and Scottie Scheffler.
A fighting display that saw him shrug off two double bogeys carried Korea’s Si Woo Kim into the joint lead after round three the Memorial Tournament along with world number three Rory McIlroy and David Lipsky on Saturday and giving him a chance to emulate countryman K.J. Choi, 2007 winner of the event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
Kim carded a gutsy 1 under 71 to go with earlier rounds of 71 and 68 to tally 6 under 210 at Muirfield Village Golf Club, sinking six birdies against the two doubles and a further bogey to line up a shot at a second title of the year at the $20 million event, according to the PGA Tour.
The 27-year-old said later, “I feel I hit a lot of great tee shots and a lot of great iron shots and hopefully it goes in with the putter. But I feel great, especially making two doubles and shoot under par on this course, I'll take it.” Kim made birdies on holes 1, 4, 7, 12, 13 and 15 but rued finding the water thrice including dumping his ball in the penalty area twice on the par-5 11th hole. He also made an unfortunate double on the third when a seemingly perfect tee shot ended in a divot which he subsequently pushed his approach into the hazard.
“On 3, I hit a great tee shot with a 3-iron and right down the middle. I was in a divot. So I tried to hit that ball contact first and pushed it a little into water. That makes double. Number 11, I tried to get on in two but the wind was kind of right-to-left and got it and it went into the hazard. Third shot into the hazard. So that makes double,” he said.
Kim will be alongside McIlroy in Sunday’s final round and is ready to give it his all in search of a fifth career win in the US. “Greens are firm. Rough’s long. It’s hard to keep the concentration. Every hole is like make bogey or double. So, if I had to miss, you got to take a bogey,” said Kim, whose four wins include the 2017 Players Championship.
The Korean will be boosted by the fact that he has not missed the cut in eight starts at Muirfield Village, with a best of T9 in 2021. This week, Kim has been rock-steady where he ranks fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green through three rounds.
McIlroy, also chasing a second win of the season, signed for a 70 that included four birdies and two bogeys while Lipsky stayed on course for a maiden win after salvaging a 72. They were one shot ahead of a group of five – Denny McCarthy (68), Viktor Hovland (69), Wyndham Clark (70), Lee Hodges (70) and Mark Hubbard (72).
Japan star Hideki Matsuyama, who was solo second after 36 holes had a 75 which included a triple bogey on the par-3 12th hole and enters the final round in tied ninth place, two shits behind the leaders.
Another Korean, Sungjae Im, put himself in the contention for the $3.6 million winner’s cheque after a fine 67 that pushed him to a share of 14th place, just three back of the co-leaders. Im sank seven birdies against two bogeys as he seeks a third tour win.
McIlroy, a 23-time PGA TOUR winner, was upbeat after saving par from eight feet at the last to be tied for the lead. " I've done a good job this week of keeping the ball in play. What I need to do tomorrow is just stick to that gameplan. Not to try to get ahead of myself, not to get too aggressive.”
While the Northern Irishman won the CJ Cup in South Carolina, Kim was winner at the Sony Open in Hawaii. If either of them triumphs, he would be the fifth player this season to win more than once after Jon Rahm, Tony Finau, Max Homa, and Scottie Scheffler.